Jacksonville Zoo Northeastern Kenya, eastern Sudan and Eritrea Habitat Open woodlands and wooded grassland Life Expectancy 25 years (up to 28 years in captivity) Sexual Maturity Giraffes reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years of age. Diet In the wild, they eat leaves and shoots of trees. In the Zoo, they are fed alfalfa hay, grain, browse, fruits, and vegetables. Status IUCN – Least Concern Behaviors Giraffes prefer young leaves and the shoots of trees, but will also eat flowers, vines and herbs. They eat over a hundred different species, depending on what is seasonally available. Acacia trees are one of their favorites. They spend an average of 16-20 hours per day feeding and consume up to 140 lbs. of browse during that period. Females stay in their mother’s territories. Males leave in all-male groups to search for females in heat. Males are distinguishable at a distance from females because of their different grazing habits. Males tend to stretch their necks to reach the tops of the taller trees while the females tend to bend over smaller trees.

Giraffes can usually be found together in groups of 12-15. There are no permanent members of the group. Herds are led by an adult male (bull) and are composed of adult females (cows), calves, and sexually immature males. Females are usually the most alert to danger. When startled, a giraffe can gallop at speeds of up to 30 mph. The hind feet of a galloping giraffe reach in front of the fore feet and the animals swing their necks from side to side producing a slow-motion appearance. Giraffes vocalize by emitting moans or low notes. Observations in the wild indicate that they lie down only 5-6 hours per night. During most of this time, the animals remain alert with their necks erect and their eyes alternately opened and closed. Giraffes may go into a deep sleep for just 5 minutes each night. During deep sleep a giraffe bends its neck backward in an arch and rests its head behind its back legs or on an extended back leg. They protect themselves by kicking. Males fight for females during mating season by butting heads.

Young males engage in a behavior called “necking.” To determine dominance, young bulls slowly intertwine their necks, pushing from one side to the other like a bout of arm wrestling amongst humans. The gestation period for giraffes is about 15 months. Breeding can occur throughout the year and a single calf is born, rarely twins. Calves are usually 6 feet tall and can stand up 20 minutes after birth. Females are excellent mothers and defend their calves vigorously. Lions are the principal predators of calves, although hyenas, leopards and even wild dogs may also kill newborns up to three months of age. Fifty percent of calves die within the first six months. Mortality in the second and third year drops to about 8% and about 3% per annum in adults. Male calves are weaned at approximately 15 months. Female calves are weaned a couple of months later. There is no difference in the mortality rate between male and female calves. Adaptions The coloration of the giraffe, with its blotches, helps them to blend in with shadowy tree branches. Giraffes have keen senses of smell and vision.

Their well-developed senses have caused them to be considered one of the most vigilant of the big game species. For this reason, it is not unusual to see groups of very young calves, some with umbilical stump still attached, apparently abandoned by mothers in the middle of the day. The collective vigilance of these groups is very acute, and predators are largely inactive during the heat of the day. Females benefit by being able to visit distant feeding grounds without having to spend time on the care of their offspring, resulting in good lactation. Their legs are so long that they cannot touch the ground with their nose by simply bending over. Because giraffe necks and legs are so long, their vascular systems are specially equipped with valves to prevent blood from draining from their brains. They have a long prehensile, muscular tongue, thick gluey saliva and a special upper palate shape which enables them to process thorny foods. Because of their infrequent use of water, they can range widely and are sometimes found many miles from water. Special Interests Folklore In ancient times, the giraffe was called a camelopard because it was thought to be a cross between a camel and a leopard.

The ancient pharaohs would present giraffes to their allies as gifts. Conservation Giraffe are still common in East and South Africa. However, they have been eliminated from much of their former ranges in western Africa and the southern Kalahari. Giraffes were nearly eliminated from East Africa at the turn of the century by non-native hunters and rinderpest, a disease believed to be introduced by cattle imported to Africa. Today giraffes are found in national parks and areas outside of those parks. While it is illegal to hunt giraffe in most African countries, poaching still occurs. Giraffes are killed for food and for their long black tail hairs, which are used to make fly swatters, trinkets, and bracelets. Some people feel that with continued human population growth wild giraffes may some day be found only within the confines of Africa’s national parks. Jacksonville Zoo History Over the years, the Zoo has had several kinds of giraffes. The first arrived in December 1957 after it was purchased from a German animal dealer named Hagenbeck.

The first giraffe in our collection was a male named “Long John.” Exhibit 10 Fun Facts About Giraffes 10 Fun Facts About Giraffes By Bob Strauss We deliver. Get the best of About Education in your inbox. Thanks, You're in! There was an error. Please try again. Please select a newsletter. Please enter a valid email address. Did you mean ? Where does the word “Camelopard” come from and What does Camelopard mean? Where does the word “Camelopard” come from and What does Camelopard mean? 2013.08.20 2014.06.01 | Filed Under: Language No, no one ever thought the beast known as the camelopard was a cross between the camel and the leopard, but the Greeks of old gave it the namekamelopardalis, simply because its body somewhat resembled that of the camel and its spots were like those of the pard or leopard. We call the animal by the shorter name, giraffe. Read More Also, any literature on baseball written in the 1800's does not credit Abner Doubleday with the invention either. But if my...

2016-12-28T23:28:08+00:00 I'm not saying that whoever wrote this did not research this at all but I am saying this explanation of the origins of baseball... 2016-12-28T23:19:30+00:00 IT TOOK ME OVER WINTER BREAK 12 DAYS 3 HOURS 5 MINUTES AND 36 SECONDS. 2016-12-28T02:49:36+00:00 The math here is false. The fundation of how this was worked out is how long it takes to count to 100 in seconds; which is fine... 2016-11-08T22:41:08+00:00 World Wide Words: Camelion Camelion Pronounced /ˈkæməˌlaɪən/ People have been confused about the names and natures of exotic animals for millennia. The camel’s name in medieval English was olfend, a word that has been defunct for eight centuries.

This was known in earlier Germanic languages and also in Old Church Slavonic (where it was taken to mean “great wandering beast”), but it can be traced back to the Latin elephantus. A camelion isn't one of these ... ... but one of these Basically, people confused the camel with the elephant, not so surprising when you’ve never seen either and you have to rely on travellers’ descriptions relayed many times. Another confusion led to the camelopard, a linguistic cross formed in classical Greek between a camel and a pard or panther. The camelopard wasn’t thought to be a hybrid but the name was given to it because its body looked like that of a camel with spots like those of the leopard. We prefer to call it a giraffe (from Arabic zarāfa). The animal called a leopard is the result of yet another confusion — its name is lion + pard, because the ancients believed it was a cross between the two. A camelion, however, has nothing to do with camels. The first part comes from a Greek word meaning “on the ground, dwarf”, so the animal was a “ground lion” or “earth lion”, which you may feel is an odd way to describe a small lizard.

In the fourteenth century, the word became confused with camelopard because of a scribe’s error in a text read by the Bible translator John Wyclif and for a while it became identified with the giraffe. It was only a couple of hundred years ago that its name changed from camelion to chameleon under the influence of the Latin version of its name. Share this page cross, post 9 - new woso new woso apparel ‎ > ‎ US 6 ‎ > ‎ cross, post 9 HS Cross Country competes TSSAA DIIA Region Meet at Steeplechase Course. Girls race at 1:00 and boys race at 1:45. Go Tigers Go. 4yo DD is cross because one of the dinnerladies called her "princess". This is a grave error as far as DD's concerned. Poor dinnerlady. Greg Pierce That s priceless. You should mark that day in your calendar with a big red cross. Congrats on reaching the next level. Next nails I'm getting will be neon yellow or lime green with sparkles on the ring finger & a jeweled cross on the middle finger. God does not regret saving you.

There is no sin which you commit which is beyond the cross of Christ. Matt Chandler. New Hyundai Saintro, now with a sense of righteousness. Does not hit pedestrians, halts to let the elderly cross, cannot honk near schools. CCFC Supporters Club could I book two tickets for villa and two for the bus from high cross please for Patrick Jones (adult) and Callum Jones (U21). Walk.Eat.Talk.Eat Only 45min. by train from Kings Cross and then 5 min. in a Taxi. That s quicker then going to Upminster. Scratch hacks cross IG: KingKam_: Eastside Hacks Cross Riverdale Ross Rd Winchester Shelby Dr Kirby Prkwy Ridgeway Hickory Hill. Pawan Durani He is a parsi-italian cross child.No relation with K Pandits.Some claim Gangadhar Nehru was Gayasuddin Ghazi. Retargeting - factors 4 success: testing, segmentation, relevancy, frequency, cross-platform optimization ZD Webinar ZD Forrester. Fuck just went through my old photos and the number of slide films that I cross processed is making me damn depressed. Crane sat cross-legged in the center of a dim warehouse.

The entire floor was covered in pumpkins. The one in his lap was under the knife. Peter Mount been there for a while now. Nearly asked him to bring his leader and comrades with him to Charing Cross on Monday. Always gone but never hard to find. And since you can t escape me do I ever cross your mind. Unforgettable Thank Me Later Drake Birthday. The giraffe was once called a "camelopard" because people thought it was a cross between a camel and a leopard. Justin Van Leeuwen haha, you kind of have to. Cross your eyes and then. this will sound weird and painful. pull your eyes back out a bit. MT @velocitywong: FYI, PR phrases like "leveraging a proprietary and patent-pending cross-domain recommendation engine" are NO BUENO. Not a crossfit fan but a girl that does cross fit can sit on my face for sure moemoelike loveyoulongtime. Steve Nykan I can certainly take a look into your area! Send the cross streets and zip. Keep me posted. *JTA.

OIO Prep Profile spotlight on OG's Matias Trampe-Kindt - I'll talk with the senior cross country standout this afternoon - story at 10! Nice to see D Original Gidzman Veronski I Shervette Mc Sween Nella Unruly Sarita Katwaroo Anika, Ayanna and so much more cross the stage today! Congrats! Cross the line if.: Cross the line if you hate yourself for what you resort to every time they hurt you. SuzukiCarsUK I would be 's'cross if I didn't winthescross and so would my son! 'Daddy, I want you to drive a big car!' is what he says! Third3arDrum The Weekdy Melanie Iglesias Big's out for that Repost. Let's cross our fingers and hope she's corny lol. Todd Lamothe Julie Einarson Kinek Wllesley Island Building Supply, yup. You only cross one bridge, so you only pay the toll once, too. :-). If only there was a guy out there that is a mash up of Fabolous Joe Budden & KONSHENS da realest that i could cross paths with Lawwd!

To those who are attending Red Cross Youth NYC18 or you want to join the conversation use the hashtag StrongerPH :). On the road again today. Driving cross state to speak at Edinboro University at 3 and dinner with the Eric County Democrats this evening. Michael Yacavone Ah okay you ve been in that much more than me. I was thinking in terms of cross-device compatibility. Russell Brand would like to be a cross between Jesus and Prime Minister. Except he'd call it something else like Ruler SuprWeme. And then some prick of a pedestrian MUST press the button on the crossing. Obviously because standstill traffic isn't safe to cross. If you're going to claim Christ, your behavior and speech should line up with His word. It's daily to pick up your cross and deny yourself. Those random times I cross ur mind, do I give u butterflies. Cos baby I get chills, everytime I chill with ya. Holy Cross Our students are excited to meet Ashley tomorrow! Thanks for sending her-we promise a great visit to campus. collegebound. Kathryn Stuard LibertyBunny FooFoo I was flying cross country but my son was T Dega to watch Jr lose to McMurry.

Fucking stupid people downtown, the fire truck coming full speed sirens blaring means dont cross the fucking street when it changes to walk. But then of course, if you give a mouse a cookie. He'll want some milk. Soo blue cross blue shield was started in Dallas for dr apmts. If you know any regular user of the N7 please tell them to travel on the N4 tonight then cross country to the N7. Goal Spurs! Vertonghen with the the header from Eriksen's cross. They lead Sheriff 1-0, 12 mins gone. Live on Setanta Ireland now! thfc. Cameron Laws. Exactly! Walcott can't cross/finish/decisions Although he is getting better. Lennon can't cross for shit! Side foot special. cross, post 35 - new woso new woso apparel ‎ > ‎ US 6 ‎ > ‎ cross, post 35 Salman khan cross 1billion followers on facebook.all fans go and rtwt @beingsalmankhan BB7 Jai Ho salmanthe1bman $. I don't care for other's philosopy. You cross the lines, you get punished. No one gets special treatment.

Lord Death Bot. STAR & BUC WILD 2-3-2 format was instituted because of travel costs,the Celtics and Lakers would travel cross country. Its not an issue now. Sam McCarthy 'My brother has just sent me a picture where he looks like a cross between Miley Cyrus and my Dad' -sounds like a good looker! VeryMerrySeamstress Here I am! :) I had wondered if we may cross paths again. Usually when I think hard on someone, it seems to work out! So glad! So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean. Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes. 60 sec plank, 30 cross crunches, 20 cycling cross crunches, 20 heel touches, 20 super mans, 50 squats, 20 lunges ohh kill um this ass. Just finished my last official session as Head Coach of the Hartpury Girls Rugby of course it involved singing, football & cross-bar challenge! Levinas reflecting on the Cross couldn't accept a God who "had no defence." Sadly many Christians also reject the defenceless crucified God.

ATTN PEDS: I happily stop for all of you so you can cross the street. This niceness WILL STOP if you continue to crawl across the road! Kate Edgerton Wow. When Fascism comes to America, it'll come draped in the flag, whistling the Anthem, carrying a cross. FAT0048 Greg I only beat Chrono Cross one time. I remember vaguely what was going on in the game its been 10+ years. KEZI 9 NEWS just applied for the production assistant A.M. position, now all I can do is cross my fingers and hope I get it! *EVENT INFORMATION*. Irvine's Armistice Day parade will take place on Sunday, November 10 at Irvine Cross. Brianna McPherson XD They do that. Best thing you can do is ignore them. I learned after two cross-country car trips. X.x. Congratulations to Dakota - advancing to Cross Country Regionals! Awesome! regionalrunner. IC F.A.M.I.L.Y. "ScorpioAreUs : Scorpios are cold if you cross them. They can make you feel as if you're dead to them.Don't cross them.".

The giraffe was once called a camelopard because people thought it was a cross between a camel and a leopard lol o. If shes amazing, she wont be easy, If shes easy, she wont be amazing, IfShows like "Cross Roads" "Swamp Pawn" "& "Big. The fact that I stayed in my car till that song finish and then having a black cat cross my path really made my day thanks. Jan Vertonghen gets his first goal of the season to open the scoring for Spurs. Header from a precise Eriksen cross. thfc 0-1 UEL. S/O to my favorite cross country runners gret don and Krista Holmstrom good luck in sections today!. "There is no participation in Christ without participation in his mission." (N. Goodall, ed., Missions under the cross, 190.). Thinking flames running up the cross with a spear in the dragons mouth and it's jaw clamping down snapping the spear! To go on my ribs. I can't even dress up like a nerd, because I don't have any embarrassing clothes and I live with my mom, if only we had a cross dress day. Congrats to the boys cross country team winning the city title!

And the girls who came in second. gogreyghosts bringhomeabanner. So come on and face it. It's time that we say it. You can cross the line whenever you want to. - John Mayer. "Loyalty is a two way street.look both ways before you cross.and if ur the whip speeding.slow down cause u might run into aN 18 WHEELER". snopes.com: True Animal Factoids?? This is topic True Animal Factoids?? in forum Critters Archive at snopes.com. To visit this topic, use this URL: Posted by Holly Kitty Kenobi on : This morning I read in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly that rabbits are immune to the black widow spider's venom. Since I have a precious little bunny myself, I was intrigued and did some research on the topic. I came across this website, which has a lot of animal trivia on it. Some of it seems like crap, anyone care to debunk a few? And does anyone know if rabbits are indeed immune to black widow venom? I couldn't find anything to prove one way or another. Holly Posted by LizzyBean, M.D.

on : Well I found this page that says quote: Spiders inject venom into the body of a captured insect to paralyze it. Cats are very susceptible to black widow venom as are horses but dogs are relatively resistant, and sheep and rabbits are apparently immune. It's question number 10 on the page. : Well, without even breaking open my Encyclopedia of Mammals, here's what I know off the top of my head: quote: Cats are feline, dogs are canine, and sheep are ovine. Sheep are family Bovidae, genus Ovis, so I don't know if they're bovine or ovine. quote: A 'bitch' is more likely to bite you than a male dog. This is totally dependent on the individual dog and how it has been trained. A bitch with puppies is likely to bite even her owners, but I don't know how that compares to stats for male dogs. quote: The compound carotene gives the carrot its colour. True quote: Cows have 4 stomachs. A common misconception.

Cows have a 4-chambered stomach that consists of the rumen (biggest chamber and basic food storage area); the reticulum (holds food particles and kneads the food back and forth); the omasum (retains larger food particles to be further digested after regurgitation or cud-chewing); and the abomasum or "true stomach" that actually performs all the digestive processes. quote: The white of an egg is the albumen. 96% of a cucumber is water. Both true. quote: Dogs are colour-blind. I'm pretty sure this isn't true. I've read that dogs see in more red shades than we do, and have a larger visible spectrum, though. quote: Never heard this, but since an anteater is classified as a "myrmecophage", it seems logical. quote: When Europeans first came across a giraffe, they called it a 'Camelopard', believing it to be a cross between a camel and a leopard. Again, don't know if it's true, but the giraffe's scientific name is Giraffa camelopardalis. quote: Catgut comes from sheep not cats. True.

quote: Male cats have barbs on their genitals, which cause the females to cry out in pain on withdrawal. True, but usually only upon early withdrawal; i.e. if the mating is inturrupted. quote: Rhinoceros horn, when powered, is believed in some countries to increase a persons sexual potency. Unfortunately true. I don't have time to go through everything, but from what I've seen, most of them appear to be true or at least have some basis in fact. I'll pull out my zoology books later if there's anything anyone still has questions about. (plural: zos, zhos, dzos, zo, zho, dzo) a Tibetan breed of cattle, developed by crossing the yak with common cattle [ETYMOLOGY: 20th Century: from Tibetan] quote: A cat's whiskers are called vibrissae. True. But not specific to cats; I believe all tactile whiskers on any species are called vibrissae. quote: The common term for a member of the bee genus 'Bombus' is the bumblebee True A turkey's furcula is better known as a wishbone. True An Anencephalous creature has no brain.

True quote: St. Bernards, famous for their role as alpine rescue dogs, do NOT wear casks of brandy round their necks. True. Duh. The average porcupine has about 30,000 quills. If not true, it's a reasonable estimate. Posted by Candy Qute Nurse on : Didn't Snopes used to have something on the male cats and spikes thing? I definately recalling seeing it or a post on it on the site/MB, but I could never find it. Originally posted by Cervus: quote: When Europeans first came across a giraffe, they called it a 'Camelopard', believing it to be a cross between a camel and a leopard. Again, don't know if it's true, but the giraffe's scientific name is Giraffa camelopardalis.

This appears to be true--a note in the back of my copy of "The Book of Beasts" (a 12th century bestiary translated by TH White) says quote: ...a cameleopard,which does not appear in this manuscript, is a genuine animal, and by no means a bad attempt to describe an unseen creature which was as big as a camel while being spotted like a leopard, i.e. a giraffe.... And google gives me the information that in "A General History of Quadrupeds" published some time in the late 18th century, the illustration of a giraffe was labelled "cameleopard" in some editions. quote: A Cicada passes eggs through its ovipositor An ovipositor is a tubelike structure that many insects & fish have. And it's primary function is to diposit eggs, so yes, this one is true. quote: Yup. Cashmere is the hair below the guard hair of cashmere goats. quote: The common term for a member of the bee genus 'Bombus' is the bumblebee True.

And incidently, giraffes belong to the family Giraffidae; elephants to Elephantidae, camels to Camelidae, and the scientific name for the bison is Bison bison. Also, the scientific name for the striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis can be translated as "Stinky stinky" quote: A 'geep' is the resulting offspring of a sheep and a goat. True The chemical pectin, found in ripe fruit, causes jam to set when cooling. Also true So I guess this one is partly true. There's some variation in the egg color. quote: The cucumber is a fruit, not a vegetable. They come from a vine so technically they are considered to be fruit. The same goes for tomatos, peas, and squashes. quote: A starfish can turn its stomach inside out. Yup. They push their stomach outside of their body and into the shell of their prey. The muscle is then digested and absorbed. quote: Sea otters have 2 coats of fur. Yes, they have a double coat: soft, downy fur for insulation and longer guard hairs for protection from the elements.

This is fairly common among mammals that inhabit cold climates quote: They're feet are so tiny that they really can't walk. quote: A moth has no stomach Sort of. They don't have a structure called a stomach, but they do have digestive organs (crop, gizzard, etc) quote: Despite the hump, a camels spine is straight. The humps are fat, not bone so yes the camel's spine is relatively straight. quote: The largest eggs in the world are laid by a shark. Kinda, sorta, not really. A 14" egg was found and thought to have been laid by a whale shark. It was later discovered that whale sharks are actually Ovoviviparous and the egg found was most likly aborted. quote: A zebra is white with black stripes. Is the glass half full or half empty? I think it depends on how you look at it. quote: A crocodiles tongue is attached to the roof of its mouth. Again, kinda, sorta, not really.

They do have a flap of tissue on the roof of their mouth which can be moved downward to meet the tongue and close off the throat when they are submerged, but it's not actually part of the tongue. Also a related topic, the reason crocodiles can't stick out their tongue isn't because it's attached to the roof. It's because the whole underside of the tongue is attached to the lower jaw. quote: Sharks are immune to cancer. They're not totally immune to it, but they are very resistant to it. There are 15 tumors in the Smithsonian Institute that came from sharks. quote: The blood of a grasshopper is not red, but white. True quote: The walking catfish can live on land. Sort of. They can survive out of water for short periods of time because they have special structures that prevent their gill from collapsing. But they still have to return to water. quote: 96% of a cucumber is water. True. Nutritional values per 100 g Calories: 14; Water: 96%; Carbohydrates 3 g; Protein, 0.8 g, Fat: 0.1 g.

Rich in potassium quote: Crocodiles swallow stones to help them dive deeper. Most scientist believe that the stones are for digestion. quote: When a rabbit scratches its dowsets, it has itchy testicles Yup. Mexican jumping beans jump because of a moth larva inside the bean. True. The moth is Laspeyresia saltitans quote: The Bloodhound is the only animal whose evidence is admissible in an American court. True, but there has to be other evidence as well. The bloodhound's "testimony" has to be a suplement. quote: Only the male nightingale sings. In many species of birds, only the male sings. Okay, that's enough for now. I'm tired. -Chelle : You know, this is the first time I've seen a "trivia" list in which nearly all of the trivia was true or had at least some basis in fact. Is there anything on there that we know is flat out wrong? It seems like we covered everything.

: Well I'm only one person so this is not a scientifically researched answer, but I have been around dogs all my 33 years, raising rat terriers several years and now some of the top coonhounds in the country, currently with 21 dogs, I have been bitten 6 times in my life (not counting bites made in rough play) and four times were by males: 1. I was only 2 or 3, one of my first memories was a cocker spaniel who belonged to friends we were visiting biting me on the forehead when I tried (unsuccessfully LOL) to regain ownership of my tinker toy he was chewing. 2 and 3. Bites two and three were at about ages 7 and 12, both from hugging a dog that didnt want to be hugged. Neither serious, really more of a nip. 4. The potentially most serious, could have been much worse had I not had experience with dogs. Approached a barn thinking the owners were inside. They were not, and the dogs (australian shepherd) charged out and the alpha female without hesitation bit me on the leg, tearing my pants and skin.

I was terrified because I had walked down a long country lane to get to the barn to look for the owners and now I had four dogs surrounding me snarling. I had to walk very very slowly following all the hints for not challenging the dogs (IE not looking them in the eye) to get back to my truck without setting off a full fledged attack. 4. One of our coonhounds escaped and ran to the dog food bin and began wolfing food. I was angry and without thinking stalked up to him as he had his head buried in the bin and grabbed him roughly by the collar from behind. Startled, he nipped me, then cowed down when he realized what he'd done. 5. Working at the hotel, had met a guests dog and stroked her briefly at the guests room door. One day the maid was cleaning the room I stepped in and while talking to the maid I stuck a finger into the dogs crate and spoke to her. She nipped the end of my finger. 6. Just recently had a dog here to handle and show for a friend. He was quite spooky and ran when we needed to move him to another pen.

Despite gently cornering him and talking to him softly, he nipped my hand when I offered it for him to sniff - a fear biter. Of note here - all six of these bites I consider MY fault, i invaded a dog's "space". Posted by Llewtrah, Gland of Hope & Glory on : quote: Male cats have barbs on their genitals, which cause the females to cry out in pain on withdrawal. True, but only of unneutered males. The scratchy effects of the barbs trigger ovulation. It's debateable whether the females call out in pain or whether it is more of an "oi, d'you mind!". I suppose it depends on how you define pain! The barbs seem to go away after castration. : The sheep and the goat... This says it's a geep, and someone has said that's true. But, I've also seen "shoat", is that the same or is it a matter of which critter was the mother? Posted by Llewtrah, Gland of Hope & Glory on : quote: The sheep and the goat... This says it's a geep, and someone has said that's true.

But, I've also seen "shoat", is that the same or is it a matter of which critter was the mother? Usual rule is first part of sire's species name + second part of dam's species name. There are exceptions and also some people mis-name hybrids because they don't realise there is a naming convention. The famous "geep" isn't a hybrid but a chimera - instead of mating a goat and a sheep, scientists fused the early-stage embryos of the 2 species so the geep's body contains 2 distinct cell lines from a total of 4 parents and bits of it look sheep-like while other bits look goat-like. There was a natural goat/sheep hybrid called the "Toast of Batswana", but these species are hard to hybridise naturally. Some interesting URLs for hybrids : Regarding the dog factoid, it's incorrect. Males are more likely to bite. Here are the stats i found on DogBiteLaw.com : There is an 8 out of 10 chance that a biting dog is male. (Humane Society of the United States.) The majority of dog attacks (61%) happen at home or in a familiar place.

The vast majority of biting dogs (77%) belong to the victim's family or a friend. The face is the most frequent target (77% of all injures). Mail carriers are an exception where 97% involve the lower extremities. i like to keep up to date on my dog bite statistics...since i have one of "those" dogs. i just realized, this post makes a full fledged Snopes poster! Oh no! i was so happy just lurking lol A zebra is white with black stripes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Is the glass half full or half empty? I think it depends on how you look at it. I heard that zebras are all white at birth and they get their stripes later. So I guess they can be white with black stripes in that sense. The only think I could find said that their stripes are on their skin so it could be either. -Chelle Posted by FourKidneys *packed in ice* on : quote: Is the glass half full or half empty? I think it depends on how you look at it. An optimist will see the glass as half full. A pessimist will see the glass as half empty.

A realist will see that sooner or later, someone is going to have to wash that NFBSKing glass. Four "realist" Kitties Posted by Jason the Jinx on : A zebra is white with black stripes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Is the glass half full or half empty? I think it depends on how you look at it. I heard that zebras are all white at birth and they get their stripes later. So I guess they can be white with black stripes in that sense. Zebras are born with all of their stripes. I don't think that they are either white with black or black with white, any more than a black and white cat is. Those are just the colors they are. Posted by Llewtrah, Gland of Hope & Glory on : quote: I don't think that they are either white with black or black with white, any more than a black and white cat is. Those are just the colors they are. And some zebra are more black than white and vice versa. 1 kg of lemons contain more sugar than 1 kg of strawberries.

True, with regard to carbohydrates: Lemons, raw, without peel 93.2g /kg Strawberries, raw 70.2g /kg quote: 90% of the Vitamin C present in Brussel Sprouts are lost in cooking. True. Heat destroys Vitamin C. Which is why pasturized apple juice has ascorbic acid added to it. quote: About a quarter of the people bitten by dogs seem to be bitten by German Shepherd dogs. I don't know if this is true. It wouldn't surprise me, though. Most herding dogs nip people as well as animals. quote: Shark's teeth are literally as hard as steel. Spiders web and deer antlers have a higher tensile strength than steel. Superman has nothing on Bambi, apparently. quote: Tarantula's can survive 2.5 years without food. I think I've found my new pet. quote: The sperm of a mouse is longer than the sperm of an elephant. The tail of sperm is usually longer (making the sperm faster) in species where the male has to compete for females. The testes are larger as well.

Male gorillas, who have a 'harem' of females, have a small testicle/body mass ratio, while chimpanzees, who must compete with other males, have rather large testes in comparison to their bodies. quote: Squid can commit suicide by eating their own tentacles. I would imagine I could do the same by eating my own arm... Nol " pass the ketchup, please." ly quote: Whales can't swim backwards. Not entirely true. I've seen them back up a bit by using their pectoral flippers (the ones at the sides) to backpaddle. Perhaps some species can't. quote: A shark must keep moving forward to stay alive. Only true for some species. Smaller sharks, such as a swell shark or horn shark frequently just sit and snooze. quote: A python is capable of devouring a pig whole. Probably depends on the size of the pig and the size of the python. But I've seen a large snakeskin before, and the person who cured the skin or whatever said there was an adult deer inside when they killed the snake. I believe it came from Peru, but as I was only 8, my memory isn't entirely certain.

quote: Dolphins sleep with one eye open. It's been documented in some species, but not all. quote: Turkey's often look up at the sky during a rainstorm. Unfortunately some have been known to drown as a result. Now this, I'm not sure. My fifth grade teacher told me this, and her parents raised turkeys. I have, however, heard that it is an urban legend.

Question: What animal was once called a camelopard because it was thought to be a cross between a camel and a leopard?
Answer: Giraffe